Duri a morire

With a threadbare jungle mercenary script, a touch of "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly", zero nudity, and zero blood, this is a tough watch. Character development is nil, and the film is mostly aimless walking around in the jungle, by men who we care nothing about. The highlights would include a game of chicken with grenades, and a surprise ending. The lowlights would include a bloodless decapitation, gratuitous explosions, a stock footage cheetah, and a plot that hinges on someone having a million dollar price on their head, who we know nothing about. "Tough to Kill" is tough to watch, for obvious reasons. Not recommended, even for admirers of low budget exploitation. - MERK

1st watched 11/23/2002 - 5 out of 10(Dir-Joe D'Amato): Ok action-adventure film with unexpected twist at the end. This Italian film seems like it's trying to sell itself as a Rambo-type movie but it's less of a shoot-em-up and more of an adventure. A `white' mercenary is hired to be one of the guys in the troup but then return an enemy or the proof that this enemy is dead. As members of the troupe catch on to what's really happening they become an interested party to the mercenary's task but then they start dropping like flies and we're left with only a handful. This movie is more about the interaction of that handful, but the problem is that their actions are predictable and characteristic of their type of character in the film. So we basically know what's going to happen until the surprise ending. The ending is kind of a retaliation to how the movie treated the blacks in the story, and this part I liked. But overall, the whole movie is not quite worth the effort to get to the end.

Among hundred of porno drama's and pure hardcore, Aristide Massachessi made some non-sexual films. This one is the example of non-sexual Caribbean action-adventure film. It was the first film that the director made on the locations of Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic in 1978). Great exhausted of heat and voodoo faces of Donald O Brien and other members of crew did their best to make a pure fighting and absorbing hallucination-film. The story is about Africa The plot takes place in Africa, although you can see a lot of 100% Caribbean views those tiny streets, jungles, too much light and extremely good Caribbean funk music as score. The great deal of black actors, make this film look cool. There is a magnificent scene with soldiers going through river when terrible rain is falling- which looks better than such moments of "Nowdays Apocalypse". So, for all Damato's fans- this one is highly recommended.

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Luc Merenda joins up with a group of mercenaries in some undisclosed African country. He decides to go on a mission with them, but secretly does so hoping to snag a guy with a million dollar bounty on his head. Some of the other mercenaries find out and want in on the deal, needless to say it's not long before greed gets the better of them. Directed and co-written by prolific, infamous, misunderstood Joe D'Amato, this macho action film is one of his less sleazy (not UNsleazy, just less so), more comprehensible films. It's also one of the director's best films and any fan of Italian B-movie cinema will probably like it. It's a travesty that the DVD of the movie is so horrid.

My Grade: B

DVD Extras: Hmmmm.. we get..nope, nothing (worse than that, the video on the DVD looks to be VHS quality, and the sound is VERY sub-par)

(1978) Tough To Kill/ Duri a morire SPAGHETTI ADVENTURE/ WAR DUBBED

Cinematography, co-written and directed by Joe D'Amoto known for directing a great portion of low budget erotic horror films, or quickie made movies, has him involved directing a semi- war movie that has Martin (Luc Merenda ) joining a group of mercenaries for the purpose of bringing a specific someone among their regimen to collect a 1 million bounty on his head which the major soon finds out upon going on a mission. The ending can be seen a mile away by going through some minor racial boundaries to satisfy skeptics making it overall almost pointless!